"Accountability" Bill Proposed A bipartisan group of House members has introduced a new version of the so-called “contractor blacklist” bill. The Contractors Accountability Act, H.R. 2767, would establish a central database listing all court or administrative proceedings brought against federal contractors, and any debarments or suspensions, over the previous five years. Under the bill, contractors would be deemed “nonresponsible” if they were convicted of two offenses worthy of debarment or suspension within a three-year period. To change this designation, a contractor would have to present “clear and convincing evidence” that it had taken steps to “correct the conditions that gave rise to the violations.” Agencies could ban companies that were on the “nonresponsible” list from government contracts. The bill’s primary sponsor, Rep. Carolyn Maloney (D-NY), said in a statement: “The federal government should not be in the business of repeatedly awarding contracts to companies that repeatedly break the rules.” Maloney has introduced similar legislation several times before. The issue surfaced again when the General Services Administration said it was reviewing the fitness of the bankupt telecommunications company WorldCom, which admitted multibillion-dollar accounting irregularities. WorldCom, which is changing its name to MCI, holds a governmentwide telecommunications contract that comes up for renewal in January. GSA currently maintains a database of companies that are suspended or debarred from contracting. Maloney’s bill would expand the database to include information on recent lawsuits or administration actions against companies.